Contrary to the claims of certain IDologists, the new director of the Vatican Observatory, Fr. Jose Funes, has stated that the rumors that Fr. Coyne was replaced because of his stance on Intelligent Design were “absolutely false” and that Coyne requested in May to be replaced (source). Kind of makes the following from Denyse O’ Leary all the more enjoyable:

Apparently, Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education (called by some here the “National Center for Selling Evolution”) has attempted to spin Fr. Coyne’s departure as a normal retirement. He told Dick Fischer at the ASA discussion group that a media account that suggested otherwise was tendentious:

“… after all, Coyne is 73 years old, and his retirement could have been predicted in any case. And there’s no reason to think that Coyne’s successor’s view differs from Coyne’s …”

Nice try, Glenn. But … obviously, retiring Fr. Coyne just as the Vatican is seriously deliberating Darwinism and its effects is a message about acceptable avenues of dissent.

Looks like Glenn got it right and O’Leary (as often is the case) got it wrong.